One of the Abandoned Boys
by Hailey1986
Summary: Vernon drops four-year-old Harry off at an Orphanage in the middle of the night. He doesn't realize it was the best thing he could have done for him when his intentions were to be cruel. Eventually Harry and Snape bonding... not slash!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR CANON CHARACTERS! I own the children at the orphanage and Jennifer McDenver.

A/N: Harry was beaten more in the fanfiction then he was in the books. I don't think Harry was really physically abused in the books, just neglected more. Though I think Vernon probably did hit him once and a while. He just wasn't beaten the way he was often in this fic.

* * *

It was a very cold night, the winds whipped around a four-year-old boy who tried to keep himself warm in a small raggy blanket. He lay on stone steps and stared at the road, tears fell down his cheeks but he didn't make a sound. He closed his eyes and wished he was back in his cupboard. At least it had been warm in there.

_It had been a very fun school day. Halloween was coming up quickly and the children were preparing for it. Harry was only happy when he was at school. He was allowed to play when he wanted to. He was allowed to play with toys! He enjoyed playing with the blocks the most because he could make castles. Lately, he had been at the craft center making Halloween decorations._

"_Tomorrow, we are going to wear our costumes to school, so don't forget!" The teacher announced to the class at the end of the day._

_Harry felt excitement go through him. He didn't have a Halloween costume himself… no his aunt and uncle would never allow such a thing, but the teacher had spare costumes. He had picked out a wizard costume; it even had a wand he could use. The rest of the children were chattering around him excitedly. His cousin Dudley was telling everyone that he was going to be a spooky ghost. _

_At the end of the day, Harry's aunt came and picked him and Dudley up from school. Dudley began to poke Harry, but he ignored him._

"_Mrs. Dursley, I wanted to talk to you about your nephew. I sent a letter home with you last week, did you get it? No? Well, Harry is showing signs of depression. At times he'll play with the other boys and girls, other times he won't. I often notice this when the other parents are around. I think it has to do with his parents death. I'd like to arrange a meeting with the school counselor to talk to him. He's also showing other odd signs… sometimes he cleans the bathrooms as if his life depends on it. He will sometimes hit himself if he thinks he hasn't cleaned something properly… have you seen these signs at home? No? Hmm, well we'll arrange that meeting with the counselor then. I'm really concerned about him. Now about the bruises-"_

"_Yes, the boys fight a lot, as I've told you several times. Harry is also very clumsy. His broken nose and arm was from falling down the stairs. They've healed all right now as you can see. He's happy to be out of the cast."_

"_And he doesn't eat lunch…and I'm concerned about Dudley, he is overweight."_

"_Yes, well Harry is picky. The doctor has him on vitamins because he doesn't eat enough," his aunt seemed to ignore the comment about Dudley._

"_He's severely underweight Mrs. Dursley. The school nurse weighed him and she said he doesn't weigh as much as he should at his age. We've provided a list of foods he should eat."_

"_Well I'll see what I can do, but Harry is like my sister. She was picky as well."_

_The conversation between his aunt and teacher went on. Harry didn't like when the teacher talked about him with his aunt, it meant he was going to get a beating. When Uncle Vernon got home later that night, he lost it after speaking with Aunt Petunia. Harry was cleaning the kitchen table for dinner when his uncle stormed in._

_After being beaten brutally, Harry was shoved in his cupboard with no meals. Harry had tried to stop his nose from bleeding. His stomach hurt, he couldn't move his fingers. His bottom and the back of his legs hurt from a long spanking. He hurt in many other places as well, he'd never been beaten so much before. Harry had fallen asleep only to be woken later._

"_Get in the car! I'm finished with you! I knew we shouldn't have sent you to school. You are the stupidest child alive! You are worthless. Now you are causing problems at school. Since you can't stop being ungrateful for all we've done for you, I am getting rid of you. You are going to live at the orphanage!"_

_Harry stared at his uncle, he went to change out of his pajama's that were far too large for him, being Dudley's once but his uncle stopped him. _

"_You're taking what you are wearing! Nothing else!" _

_One long car ride later, Harry was standing outside a large red building with weeds growing up the sides. His uncle told him to take off his pajama's then threw him his raggy blanket._

"_This is the blanket you came with; you can take it with you! Those pajama's are Dudders, you've been taking his clothes far too long!"_

_Shivering in only his underwear, Harry wrapped the blanket around him. The blanket had once been a nice knitted blanket, one his mother had made him. Harry didn't remember this however; he had been still a baby when his uncle had wrecked it. It was now full of holes, juice stains, and the thread was coming loose._

"_Listen here, boy! You tell anyone where you came from, I will come after you! You don't tell them anything about me, your aunt or your cousin! You got it!"_

_Harry nodded, apparently this wasn't good enough. A moment later, Harry was lying on the ground holding his nose, which was already broken. _

"_I SAID DO YOU GOT IT!?"_

"_Yes," Harry whimpered._

Harry curled into a tighter ball under the blanket, and tried not to think about it. He wasn't ever going to see his nice teacher again. He wasn't going to be a wizard either. He wished he wasn't in so much pain so that he could sleep.

* * *

A woman in her late thirties stepped out of the McDenver Orphanage. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the small boy wrapped in an old blanket, shivering. She hurried over to him; the boy's face was covered in bruises and blood.

"Oh you poor dear," she murmured.

She forgot about her plans for the day and kneeled beside him. She reached out to pick him up. The boy woke up startled and moved away from her. The blanket fell away as he back up. He was only in a pair of underwear, his ribs were very prominent, and he was covered in bruises from head to toe.

"It's okay," she said, "I won't hurt you, I promise."

He kept backing away, as he did, he fell down the steps. She hurried after him; he had already started to cry. Before he could run again, she grabbed a hold of him and lifted him up. He struggled against her, but he was so small that it wasn't much of a fight. If she could estimate his age, she'd think he was three. He was much too small to be any older.

"It's okay; I'm going to take you in the warm. Were you here all night? Where did you come from?" she asked.

"I wanted to be a wizard," he said and then started sobbing against her shoulder. "I wanted to be a wizard!"

"A wizard? For Halloween?" she asked.

She carried him inside, down a long hallway and into her office. She placed him in a chair, where he rested his head against the arm and continued to sob. She moved over to a box that was full of clothes. She looked through the old raggy clothes for some that was his size. She found an old red sweater and a black pair of pants that had a hole in the knee.

"Here, let me put some clothes on you," she said turning to the sobbing boy.

"I wanted to be a wizard!" he screamed. "I want to go home! I want my cupboard! I want to go to school! I want to be a wizard!"

"You have a home? Where is your home?" she asked as she pulled a sweater over his head.

He let out a scream when she touched his right hand. She looked down his hand to see that it was covered with dry blood, and a couple of his fingers looked broken.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie," she said. "Where else does it hurt?"

"Every where," he said. "I wanna go to school."

"I know. Can you answer some questions for me? I need to know how you got here," she said. "If it helps you, my name is Jennifer McDenver. You can call me Ms. Jen. Now, can you tell me your name?"

As she said all of this, she managed to get the small boy dressed. She knew she was going to have to get him to the hospital, but she wanted him to feel comfortable with her first. Tears were still streaming down his grimy face. His nose looked as if it were broken as well.

"Listen, I'm going to have to take you to the hospital. You have a lot of injuries, but I need some information," she said.

The little boy shook his head. This wasn't the first child who had been abandoned at the orphanage. She guessed that the boy's parents had beaten him and then dropping him off. It would explain why he hadn't been wearing clothes. She wanted to meet these people. Why didn't they give him clothes for the night?

"I promise that I won't let anything happen to you, but you have to help me. You have to answer my questions."

"Don't wanna go to hospital," he answered.

"You have broken bones, young man. The doctors will help you feel better," she answered.

"Can't go," he said.

"Can you at least tell me your name?" she asked.

"Harry James Potter," he said. "It's going to be Halloween in a week. We've been making crafts! I was going to be a wizard today."

Jennifer was hit with an idea. She told Harry that she'd be right back and hurried from the room. She went into the children's play room and started to rifle through their play clothes. She hoped the little boy would stay where he was. She was lucky that it was breakfast; the children would be eating at that moment. She didn't want any of the attendants asking her questions yet.

She returned to her office, Harry was sitting in a corner, his arms were around his legs and he was sobbing. She hurried over to him and whispered his name.

"Look what I have!"

She had found an old witches hat and a black cape. She'd also found a wooden stick that would work as a wand. His eyes brightened when he saw it. She put the hat on his head and handed him the stick.

"Now if you stand up, I can put the cape on you," she said.

"I'm a wizard!" he said happily.

"Yes you are!" she said giving a big smile. "A very powerful wizard too I think. Do you feel braver as a wizard?"

He nodded, "I can play pretend here?"

"Of course you can!"

After he was in his wizard's costume, she scooped him up and put him back in the chair. She got down on her knees and stared into his beautiful green eyes.

"Now Harry, can you tell me where you came from?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, when did you come here last night? Did someone drop you off?"

"It was all dark out. I was cold and scared. I heard noises all night. I left my toy doggy and I wanted him," he said. "I wanted my cupboard."

"Your cupboard?" she asked glad to be getting through to him now.

"Yes I was only allowed to bring my pajama's but then I had to take them off to give them back," he answered. "So I had my blankey and I slept outside _all_ night."

"Did you sleep in a cupboard?" she asked

Surely he didn't but he nodded. She asked him more questions about his home life. He told her what she wanted to know but wouldn't reveal who his parents were. It seemed as if he was trying to shield them. She had enough information for the time being. She needed to get him to the hospital. She was surprised he had survived the night in his state. It had been a very cold night.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up Harry! Wake up! It's Christmas!"

Harry woke up, his roommate was shaking him. He sat up and looked around his room. It was a fair size. It had two beds with two closets. It was bigger than the room Dudley had back at home. He didn't tell anyone too much about his home. He didn't want his uncle to come after him. He didn't want to go back home, he liked the orphanage, everyone was friendly.

Harry looked at the older boy who was still shaking him excitedly. Harry liked his roommate; he stopped the other kids from picking on him. His name was Sam Harper; he was ten-years-old and very friendly. Some of the children laughed at Harry's size. Apparently he was scrawny. Harry would never admit that he didn't know what 'scrawny' meant.

"Come on Harry! The presents came," Sam said.

"Father Christmas?" Harry asked.

Sam shook his head, "Father Christmas doesn't come to orphanages… don't you remember? People donate gifts. Some Ms. Jen buys."

"Do I get a present?" Harry asked.

Harry climbed out of bed and Sam took his hand. "Course you do! Everyone gets presents."

"I'm a bad boy. I don't get presents," Harry answered.

"No you're not," Sam answered.

Harry hadn't told Sam about his aunt and uncle but had told him about his beatings. Sam had been brought to the orphanage when he was six-years-old. He had been beaten too; he understood what it was like to be 'abandoned.' Harry hadn't known that his uncle had abandoned him, but that's what Sam called it.

"You're a good boy Harry," Sam said. "You're very quiet and all the girls love you."

It had been hard for Harry to adjust to the orphanage his first few weeks. He wasn't used to playing whenever he wanted. He'd also been given his own clothes that fit and pajamas as well. He was allowed to play pretend whenever he wanted to. On Halloween, the older children had taken him and the other young children around trick-or-treating in costumes. Harry had worn the wizard costume Ms. Jen had given him.

Some of the children were very angry about being at the orphanage. Harry had learned to stay away from them. Some had been abandoned, some lost their parents, and some had been there since they were babies. The ones who had been abandoned were the ones who were the angriest. They'd once lived in a home with parents one day and lived out on the streets the next.

"You're not angry?" Harry had once asked Sam who had explained it all to him.

"I used to be. But my parents weren't nice people, Harry. They were very angry all the time. My big sister ran away when she was sixteen. Sometimes I wonder what happened to her. I wish I knew where she was," Sam had said. "I prefer it here. Sometimes people come here to adopt kids, but I don't want to live with parents ever again."

Harry hadn't answered. Not all parents could be bad. His had died when he was a baby but they had wanted him. His aunt had told him that once while they were cleaning the kitchen together. He'd asked her where the lightning bolt scar on his forehead had come from.

"It came from the car crash that killed your parents! Now don't ask questions!" She'd snapped.

He hesitated then asked, "Do they miss me?"

She'd softened at that point, which was rare for her when it came to Harry. "Yes, your mum and dad loved you very much. And I'm sure they miss you."

Harry often wanted to tell people that his parents were dead so people wouldn't think they were bad people. He was too scared to reveal that it had been his uncle who had hurt him. As it was, Ms. Jen was trying to find out where he had once lived. She was looking into the schools to find out. This scared Harry, he had promised his uncle he wouldn't say anything.

"Maybe I shouldn't have told her my name," he told Sam as they headed to recreation room.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"Cause… she'll find out where I once lived. I don't wanna go back. I like it here. I get presents and I get to play with toys. I get clothes that fit and I haven't been hit once!" he answered. He stopped in his tracks and rolled up his sleeves. "Look! No bruises! My tummy never hurts from growling too! I get food and my tummy is happy."

"You won't go back," Sam answered knowingly.

They entered the recreation room where the other children were. There were piles of wrapped gifts sorted for each age group. Harry was part of the group for age's three to five. Once of the attendants called him over. There was only one five-year-old, he was the only four-year-old and there were two three-year-olds.

"Now, let's see… you each get three presents each this year."

Harry stared at her in disbelief. He'd only ever had one present in his life, which hadn't been for his birthday or Christmas. His aunt had given him an old stuffed dog of Dudley's one day. The cotton had been coming out of where a tail had been and it had no eyes. He'd been happy to have a toy at all.

"These are for _me_?" he asked taking the three small gifts she handed him. "Why?"

"Because Harry, it's Christmas. Everyone gets presents on Christmas."

"Even bad boys like me?" he asked.

"You aren't a bad boy Harry," she answered.

"Then why didn't my aunt and uncle want me?" he asked without thinking.

Although Harry was very pleased to have Christmas presents, he couldn't help but think of his home. His aunt and uncle had always made it perfectly clear that they didn't want him in their home. He'd been told more than once that he was unworthy of love. He was often told he was the worst child alive. He knew that was why his uncle had left in the middle of the night. He was a bad boy and he knew it. Everyone at the orphanage would soon learn the truth as well.

The attendant was hugging Harry as he cried. He hadn't realized that he'd told her some useful information. He was just sorry that he was spoiling Christmas. His uncle had told him that he was bad when he cried. Harry couldn't help it. He couldn't stop thinking about the insults that had been thrown at him, the beatings, and the fact that he had been abandoned.

"It's okay, Harry, it's okay," she murmured.

"NO!" he shouted.

He pulled away from her; he forgot about his presents and ran from the recreation room. He ran all the way back to his and Sam's room and threw himself on his bed. He lay on the bed sobbing.

_I'm finished with you! I knew we shouldn't have sent you to school. You are the stupidest child alive! You are worthless. Now you are causing problems at school. Since you can't stop being ungrateful for all we've done for you, I am getting rid of you. You are going to live at the orphanage!_

_You don't deserve to eat. You are bad! Why aren't you out there working and making money instead you worthless scum? You are nothing but a lazy spoiled brat!_

_You should have went the same way as your parents you pathetic excuse for a human being!_

_You are nothing but a waste of skin! You don't even deserve to be called a person! You are a thing! Got that a THING! You pathetic ugly creature!_

"Harry!"

Harry looked up to see Sam; he had a look of concern on his face. Ms. Jen had come into the room as well. Long ago he'd learned to trust her. He'd been wary of her at first because she wanted to take him to the hospital. Doctors asked questions and answering questions with the truth could get a person a very long spanking. However, that hadn't happened. She'd given him a chocolate bar afterward.

"Harry, you are not a bad boy," Sam told him. "You deserve those."

He was pointing to three gifts that were lying on the bed. They were the same gifts that the attendant had given him. Ms. Jen walked over to Harry and kneeled beside the bed so that she was eye level with him.

"Harry, you're aunt and uncle dropped you off here?" she asked.

"No," he said.

He started to cry harder, he had broken his promise. He wasn't supposed to tell the truth about his aunt and uncle or Dudley. He was going to lose all of this. His uncle was going come after him. Harry threw his head back and screamed.

"Harry, it's okay, you can tell me the truth," he heard her say.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" he yelled.

He rolled himself on the floor and screamed louder.

"They must have threatened him," he heard Sam say.

"Yes, Sam, stay with him for a moment please… if he hits you-"

"He won't Ms. Jen." Sam answered.

"Harry, listen to me. They can't come get you. When I first came here, I was scared of that too. Guess what! Ms. Jen tracked my parents down and they are in jail! When they are released, they can't come near me. I learned that what they did to me was illegal," Sam said as he rubbed his back.

Harry sniffled and sat up. "What's illegal?"

"It's when you do something really really wrong. Your aunt and uncle beat you and then abandoned you. That's illegal," Sam answered.

Harry thought about all that his uncle had told him. "I'm illegal?"

"No, you aren't illegal. You aren't bad. I bet you've never been bad… but why did you live with your aunt and uncle?" Sam asked.

"My mummy and daddy died when I was baby. They loved me and they miss me," Harry answered.

Sam handed him the presents and Harry opened them. One was a stuffed teddy bear. He could tell that it was brand new. He'd never had anything brand new before, even the clothes he wore at the orphanage weren't new. The next gift was a pack of cards; Sam told him it was a game called Match. The last gift was a new book.

"I get to keep these?" Harry asked.

"Yes, they are all yours. You're lucky you are young. People always donate more presents for little kids," Sam told him.

"Did you get a present?" Harry asked.

"I got a new book," Sam answered and pointed to a book on his bed. "The babies always get the most gifts. The little kids the next. The teenagers here really don't get much either. Ms. Jen usually has to buy gifts to make sure everyone gets one."

"Why? Are they bad?" Harry asked.

"No. It's just that people always think to buy more for the little ones then they do the older kids."

Ms. Jen answered as she entered the room with an older lady who had a cane. Harry froze. He was going to be beaten with a cane! His Aunt Marge had always threatened to beat with a cane. Harry climbed into Sam's lap and clung onto him. His eyes didn't leave the cane as the two women approached.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He cried.

"What?" Ms. Jen asked. "Harry, what's wrong? We're not angry with you."

"It's the cane. He thinks you are going to beat him with the cane," Sam told them.

"Oh no, Harry. Mrs. Dunlop needs it to walk. We just want to talk to you. I promise that no one here will ever hit you," Ms. Jen said.

"I'm not going to get beaten?" Harry asked.

"No," Mrs. Dunlop said, she didn't have a soft voice like Ms. Jen. "I just want to talk to you Harry. Ms. Jen told me you were screaming. Can you tell me why?"

"I'm sorry," Harry answered. "I'll never scream again."

"Well if you do, it's okay," Ms. Jen said. "Now, you lived with your aunt and uncle?"

Harry buried his head in Sam's shoulder. It hadn't seemed scary telling him about it, the adults were a different story.

"After you left he told me that he had lived with them because his parents died. He's scared that if he tells you what they did then they'll come after him," Sam said for him.

"My uncle told me that he'd come get me," Harry whispered which Sam told them.

"Harry, this information is very important. I can assure you that your uncle will never touch you again. Neither will your aunt," Mrs. Dunlop said, "and I'd like to start having meetings with you to talk about it some more."

"Sam too?" Harry asked looking up at her.

"I don't mind sitting with him," Sam told her.

"At first yes, if you want Sam around. After a while we'll do it by ourselves," Mrs. Dunlop said. "Just one more question Harry, and then you can enjoy your Christmas. Do you remember what their last name was?"

Harry didn't answer for a few moments. Everyone in the room believed that he didn't know what a last name was at first. Ms. Jen was about to ask when Harry spoke.

"Dursley. Petunia, Vernon and Dudley Dursley. Aunt Petunia never hit me but Uncle Vernon did. Dudley did too; he is four, like me."

* * *

The meetings started with Mrs. Dunlop after the Christmas break. He usually had them on weekends since he was at school during the week, however at times he had them after school as well. Harry no longer flinched when he saw the cane because he knew that he wasn't going to be beaten.

The Dursley were tracked down shortly after his revelation. Jen McDenver had a good lead on them before. She'd track a couple down who lived in Little Whinging before Harry had told them the truth. They had a small boy named Dudley and a nephew named Harry James Potter. Jen had planned to meet with them but had waited because she had believed Harry lived with parents.

Immediately they were confronted and shortly afterward they were arrested. The hard part came next; they wanted Harry to tell the judge what had happened. Jen knew that Harry would be terrified to do so. She decided to talk to Sam first about it. Harry was very drawn to the boy; perhaps it was because he'd been in the same situation as Harry.

"Sam do you remember when you had to talk about what your parents had done to you in front of the judge?" she asked him.

Sam nodded, "They need Harry to do it don't they? He'll be too scared Ms. Jen. He still thinks his uncle can get him. They did some really horrible things to him you know. He has a burn mark on his arm because his uncle had stuck his arm on the stove! Ms. Jen, his uncle was a lot meaner than my parents ever were."

"I know. Ms. Dunlop has told me what Harry has told you two. If we can guarantee that the Dursley's won't be in the same room as him, it might work," she said.

"I hope so. Harry told me that his uncle had spanked him for a long time the last day he lived with them and then beat him up. My parents never did that. They only beat me when they got drunk. Ms. Dunlop doesn't think Vernon was ever drunk when he did it. He did it because he hated Harry."

"I know. That's why I want to see them locked up. I just can't understand why a parent wants to beat a small child… when I saw him laying on the steps wrapped up in that blanket…" but she stopped.

Sam was still really young after all; he was only ten-years-old even if he acted older. Sam had been in a similar situation. She remembered when she found him sitting on the steps holding a broken wrist. He'd had a black eye, with a long cut running down his cheek. He still had the scar from it. It had taken a while to get anything out of him, even longer than Harry.

He had been a very angry boy when he first came. He'd wreck toys on purpose, and pushed the smaller children down. After talking to Ms. Dunlop who was an expert with children, he had calmed down. It was the reason she had put Harry in the same room with him. Normally she kept the ages close but she thought that since the two boys had similar experiences it could work out. She had been right; Sam was very good with Harry.

They found Harry in the recreation room playing the match game he had gotten for Christmas.

"Want to play with me?" he asked when he spotted Sam. "You're the only big kid who doesn't let me win."

"We wanted to talk to you Harry," Sam told him.

"Harry, remember when I told you that your aunt and uncle had to go to a hearing?"

Harry nodded, his eyes were wide, and he looked terrified. She knew he was worried that they were going to get him.

"Well, we wanted you to tell the judge exactly what happened when you lived with your aunt and uncle," Ms. Jen told him.

Harry's face scrunched up and he started to wail loudly. Ms. Jen touched his arm and explained to him that they couldn't hurt him. Harry shook his head and cried harder. The other children stopped what they were doing to watch.

"NO!" he yelled. "I can't tell! I can't! I'm a bad boy. Please!"

"No, Harry you are not a bad boy. Your aunt and uncle are bad. You did not deserve what they did to you. Ms. Dunlop has told you that."

"Are my aunt and uncle going to be there?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but they won't see you if you don't want them to," Ms. Jen told him.

"Sam will be there?" Harry asked, he reached out and touched Sam's hand.

"If you want him to be, I'll see if we can arrange it."

"Then I want to see them."

His last statement shocked them. His tears had stopped. Ms. Jen looked at Sam; she knew it was him that Harry got his strength from. She had never felt so proud of a child's development since she had opened the orphanage. Sam was a child she'd be proud to call her own son.

* * *

Harry had to sit in a chair in a large room beside the judge. He trembled when he saw his aunt and uncle nearby. The rest of room was almost empty except Ms. Jen and Ms. Dunlop. They sat at a table across from the Dursley's. In the rows behind them sat Aunt Marge and Dudley as well.

Sam was with Harry. He was currently glaring over at the Dursley's. Harry had a hard time looking at his aunt and uncle so he stared down into his lap instead. A woman asked Harry if he swore to tell the truth and he nodded, then glanced at his uncle. He mouthed something but Harry wasn't sure what he said. He regretted his decision to be in the same room as him. He felt as scared of him as he had been when he'd lived with them.

"Now, Harry can you tell me, did your uncle ever hit you?"

Harry couldn't answer. He stared at his uncle who was glaring at him. Sam leaned over, "He can't hurt you Harry. It's okay."

"I object! That kid is whispering stuff in his ear. He's telling him what to say!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

"I told him that you couldn't hurt him ever again!" Sam shouted back.

The judge used what Harry thought was a hammer and started hitting the table in front of her. He whimpered, but then she gave him a smile. In the future, Harry wouldn't remember what got him through it, but he managed to answer every question that was asked.

"I don't wanna live with them. I like the orphan," he said at the end. "I get to play with toys! I got Christmas presents too! And I like Sam. Sam is my best friend. I don't get spanked and my tummy doesn't growl all the time and when it does, I eat!" he then looked at his uncle whose face had gone pale. "I hate you Uncle Vernon! You're illegal!"

* * *

Thanks to jesusfreak100percent, Elfwynja, barber69, lonelylittlewolf, panther73110 for their reviews. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

I'm going to have some chapters of Harry growing up in the orphanage before he goes to Hogwarts.

And to quote a certain part in the story:

_"I got a new book," Sam answered and pointed to a book on his bed. "The babies always get the most gifts. The little kids the next. The teenagers here really don't get much either. Ms. Jen usually has to buy gifts to make sure everyone gets one."_

_"Why? Are they bad?" Harry asked._

_"No. It's just that people always think to buy more for the little ones then they do the older kids."_

This is true. So if you are one of those people who donate around Christmas time, don't forget about the teens either. Usually it's children ten and younger who get presents. The older children need gifts as well!


	3. Chapter 3

"Sam and Lana sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes loves, then comes marriage then comes a baby in a baby carriage!" Harry sang as he jumped up and down on his bed.

"Shut up Harry!" Sam said throwing a pillow at Harry who punched it.

"I saw you kissing Lana!" Harry yelled who continued to jump on the bed.

Harry leaped from his bed and landed on Sam's. The older boy shook his head but he looked proud of himself as well. Harry and a boy named Derek had seen them on the way home from school. They had been hiding behind a bush and kissing. At least he knew why Sam didn't play with him as much as he had before.

"Someday you'll be kissing girls too," Sam told him.

"Nope, girls are yucky," Harry answered.

"I remember thinking that way too Harry, but when you get older you change your mind."

"Girls stop being annoying? All they do is giggle and they are silly with their dolls and makeup."

The girls in the orphanage were always playing dress-up in the play room. They wanted Harry to pretend with them as well, but he didn't like to. He'd rather sit in the recreation room and play the games in there. Sam had been teaching him about chess, but lately he'd been too busy.

"By the way, Ms. Jen wants to see you in her office," Sam told him.

"I didn't do it!" Harry said quickly.

Harry did like a good prank, but he hadn't played any pranks lately. He usually targeted the girls, but Ms. Jen had told him he'd be spending weekends in his room if he didn't stop. He hoped no one else had blamed him for something he hadn't done. People in the orphanage did that at times.

He left the bedroom and hurried down to her office. When he entered, there was a young couple sitting in chairs. Harry made his way into the room slowly, staring at them. He knew that they probably wanted to adopt him, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to be adopted. He wouldn't be with Sam anymore.

"Hello Harry, this is Mrs. and Mr. Rennings. They are looking to adopt a child about your age," Ms. Jen told him.

"Hello," Harry said surveying them.

They did look like nice people. The woman had a kind face, she was smiling at him, but she was blond. He'd had bad experience with blonds. His aunt was a blond. The man was a slim man with black hair, he looked friendly. He held out his hand for Harry to shake.

"He doesn't look six, he looks about four." Mrs. Rennings said.

"Harry has always been small for his age. Of course you know what his situation was two years ago," Ms. Jen answered.

"Well, we can assure you that we don't believe that violence should be used as a punishment," Mr. Rennings said.

"He's such a darling! I can't imagine why someone would _want_ to hit him. And those eyes!" Mrs. Renning said.

Harry looked away uneasily. He didn't like it when people talked about him as if he wasn't there. He sank into a chair and barely listened as the couple asked more questions about him. Before he knew it, they were signing papers and Ms. Jen was escorting him from the room.

"I don't wanna go," he told her.

"Now listen Harry, this couple has been interested in you for a while. They are going to give you a good home. Not a lot of people will adopt someone with your background," she told him leading him to his room.

"Why not?" he asked.

"They'd worry about how you are psychologically," she told him.

"I'm not psycho or bad. It's not my fault what my uncle did to me," he said indignantly. "Mrs. Dunlop told me."

"I know. Don't worry; you'll be happy with them. They have had trouble having children of their own so they came to the orphanage looking for a child. They wanted a baby but when they saw your picture they fell in love with you," Ms. Jen answered.

"They don't think I look six though," Harry said.

"You are very small for your age Harry, but it's okay."

"How tall should I be?" he asked.

"I'll look it up later, now listen, we're going to pack everything of yours okay," she said leading him into his and Sam's room.

"You didn't find him a home?" Sam asked where he was laying on his bed. "You can't! He isn't ready yet."

"He'll be fine Sam," Ms. Jen said, "I know how protective of him you are."

"But Ms. Jen-"

"No buts Sam. Help us please."

Harry didn't want to leave Sam, but he didn't have a choice. They started putting his stuff in an old duffle bag. Harry really didn't have a lot, though it was a lot more then he'd had at the Dursleys. Sam didn't move from his bed. He folded his arms and glared at the ceiling. After his stuff was packed, Harry walked over to him.

"Good-bye Sam. Thanks for helping me," Harry said.

"You'll be back," he predicted. "They won't understand you."

Harry wasn't sure what that meant, all he knew was that he was leaving his best friend. He didn't want to cry, so he turned away from the older boy and followed Ms. Jen from the room.

---

"This is going to be your room Harry."

Harry didn't want to show how much he liked the room, but he couldn't help it. It was a room bigger then even his aunt and uncle had. He would miss Sam, but it would be nice not to have to share. Toys were on every shelf as well. The bed looked really comfortable. He ran over to it and climbed on it.

"Yes, get used to it. It will be a lot nicer then the ones at that dreaded orphanage," Mrs. Rennings said.

"I liked the orphanage," Harry said.

He had to admit the bed was softer. The bed spread looked cozy and warm; it had a picture of solders on it. The pillows were also fluffier than any he had ever seen in his life.

"Well, you get to know your room. I am going to make us supper. Tomorrow we are going to enroll you in your new school as well."

She left the room. Harry couldn't believe that this was all his. He wouldn't have to share with anyone. He stood up on the bed and started to jump. He enjoyed jumping on this one more then his old one at the orphanage. He could get better height. As he jumped higher, Mr. Rennings ran into the room.

"Stop that at once! We paid good money for that bed. You aren't going to wreck it by jumping on it!" he shouted.

Harry stopped, frozen. His uncle had yelled. Mr. Rennings was angry. He walked into the room further. Harry whimpered… no, he was past this. He didn't get beatings anymore. People rarely raised their voices at the orphanage. Sam was right, parents hurt people. He jumped off the bed and scrambled underneath it.

"Harry, what are you doing? Look, I am sorry I yelled at you but that bed was expensive," he heard Mr. Rennings say.

Harry moved further under the bed. At times Uncle Vernon apologized for yelling only to have Harry come out from hiding so he could beat him. He started to cry. He heard Mrs. Rennings run into the room and ask what was happening. Moments later they started to argue. His aunt and uncle always argued before he got a spanking.

"NO! NO!" Harry yelled. "NO! I wanna go back! Take me back! Don't beat me!"

"Harry, we aren't going to beat you," Mrs. Renning said. "Come out, please."

"NO!" he yelled.

His aunt always pleaded for him to come out. Usually he fell for it, when he did; Uncle Vernon grabbed him and beat him. He cried harder and tried to make himself smaller.

"Let's just leave. He'll come out on his own," Mr. Rennings said.

"Harry, I'm going to finish making dinner. I'm sure you are hungry. You just play with your toys until then," Mrs. Rennings called.

Harry moved slowly from under the bed and lifted the covers to peer out. The room was empty. He moved out slowly. She told him he could play with the toys. He walked over to the toys. He reached out to grab a toy car, but snapped his hand away. It was a trick! They wanted him to play with the toys so they could punish him.

As he was contemplating this, Mr. Rennings suddenly ran into the room. Harry didn't have time to run. He tried to fight him as he picked him but was overpowered. Mr. Rennings carried him over to the bed and sat down. Harry closed his eyes and clenched his fists; he was going to be spanked. He hadn't had one in a long time but he remembered how much they hurt.

"Harry, I'm sorry I yelled," Mr. Rennings said as he held Harry on his lap. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I promise you that I will _never_ hit you."

"Even when I am a bad boy?" Harry asked still unsure.

"Even when you are a bad boy. I will ground you or you will stand in the corner. Do you know what grounding means?"

Harry nodded; he'd been grounded a few times at the orphanage. "I have to stay in my room for the weekend and I don't get to play with toys."

"Correct. How do you feel when you are grounded?"

Harry stared at him; this was the same as the orphanage. Could he really live in a real home without beatings? "Bored and sad cause I like playing with toys. But I do like groundings better then spankings."

"Well then you are only going to be grounded here. You know, I felt sad too when I saw you jumping on the bed. That's why I yelled."

"Really?" Harry asked, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad."

Mr. Rennings laughed. "That's okay Harry. I made you sad by yelling at you. But that's a rule in this house. No jumping on the bed. You can get hurt by doing that."

Harry felt startled, "But you said no spankings."

"And I mean no spankings. I meant you could fall off the bed and hurt yourself."

Before Harry knew it, Mr. Rennings was singing a song he had learned in school about no more monkeys jumping on the bed. Harry joined in as well, laughing. The only grownups that sang to him were the ones in school.

---

Harry enjoyed life at the Rennings. The first few weeks were fun, but after a while, they seemed to be losing their patience with him. He kept forgetting that he wouldn't get beaten, so he'd hide if he was scolded. Mrs. Rennings would start crying while Mr. Rennings tried to get through to him.

"What's all this? Why is all this food under you bed Harry?" he asked one day when he'd pulled Harry out from under the bed.

"I'm-I'm sorry sir," Harry said. "I'm sorry!"

"I don't want apologies. I want to know why you have all this food under here. I thought the food was disappearing. Now I know why."

Harry stared down at his feet. He'd done it often at his aunt and uncles as well. He was afraid of being locked up and starved again. He had a hard time believing that they weren't going to beat him. They were arguing often, and he knew what arguments led to.

"Harry James Potter! Answer me now!" he said.

"I'm sorry sir," Harry muttered backing toward the bed.

"Harry, I am not going to hit you. Why do you think I am going to hit you? Look, I am sorry about what you went through but not everyone is like your aunt and uncle. My wife and I will never hurt you. And I thought I asked you to call me Paul or father. You don't need to call me sir."

"I-I didn't want to be starved," Harry muttered.

"We will never starve you. Did you think we'd lock you up in here and starve you?"

"I'm sorry sir."

Mr. Rennings swore. Harry got down to his hands and knees and tried to hide under the bed again but Mr. Rennings grabbed his arm and pulled him back up. Harry started to scream.

"I can't deal with this."

He let Harry's arm go and he left the room quickly. Harry quickly hid under the bed. He knew it; he knew it was all going to end soon.

---

"Told you that you'd be back," Sam greeted Harry. "What happened?"

It had only been a couple months but Harry had missed the orphanage a lot. He was going to miss it at the Rennings as well. They had given up on him though. That's what Mr. Rennings told Ms. Jen anyway.

"You need to get him in better therapy then you have. The first week I understood, but he just didn't understand after two months. As for that Vernon Dursley? I hope he never sees daylight again. He's warped him. Harry is a sweet child, I admit that. It just hurts my wife to see him act the way he does. She really wanted to get through to him but we just couldn't. We were going to put him into therapy ourselves, but then… well my wife is pregnant. It would have been nice for Harry to have a younger brother or sister but this situation was just too stressful and she can't go through that in her condition. I regret to admit that we've given up on him."

"I kept thinking he was going to hit me," Harry said. "Why? He was always nice."

"It's entirely your uncles fault Harry. They never treated you decently. Now you have trust issues. I never told you, but I was adopted once myself. I lasted longer than you did. It was the trust; I just can't trust another man. My dad beat me more then my mother did. I was always scared that the man would beat me, even though he was really nice," Sam answered.

Harry sat down on his old bed, it wasn't very comfortable he realized. He wished he hadn't jeopardized his chance with the Rennings. Sam was right; he was the only person who understood Harry.

"He gave up on me," Harry told Sam.

"They always will little buddy. We orphans have to stick together…"

Sam always referred to himself as an orphan even though he really wasn't. Sam just didn't want to admit he had parents. Harry wasn't sure exactly what it meant to be drunk, but it didn't sound good. His uncle had never been drunk, he had just hated Harry.

"Sooo how is Lana?" Harry asked.

A/N: Poor Harry… he wrecked his chance to have a good home. Too bad he can't trust men at the moment, but there will be a man in the future he'll learn to trust.

Thanks again to my reviewers. Next chapters won't go up this quick. I basically had the outline for these three done. And I'm still working out how I am going to do first year.


	4. Chapter 4

"Harry! Wake up."

Harry sat up breathing hard. He looked up at Sam who was sitting on the edge of his bed. By the look on Sam's face, he had woken him while having a nightmare. The same nightmare that had been bothering him since his parents had died, seven-years-ago. He didn't know for sure if he it when he was a baby, but he _knew_ it was from the night of the car crash.

"Another nightmare?" Sam asked, confirming.

"Same one… the flash of green light," Harry answered. "Now I hear laughter. Ever since I came back from the Tyler's I've heard it."

Shortly after his eighth birthday, Harry had been sent to another home. Although Harry told Sam it was because he was scared of being hit, it was different this time. Though he had a hard time trusting Mr. Tyler, he hadn't behaved the same as he had back at the Rennings.

Harry had always made strange things happen. He had for as long as he could remember. At his aunt and uncles it had caused beatings. Harry had a feeling it was the reason his uncle had hated him so much. Afterward, it happened at the orphanage when he was angry or sad, but not often. He'd tried his best to keep whatever it was under control. It had happened at the Rennings a couple times, but luckily they hadn't noticed.

It was a different story at the Tyler's; it was almost every day that some how he caused something to happen, something that defied logic. It was almost like magic. There was the time when he had caused the bookshelves to levitate, or the time when he'd been grounded, and managed to summon a toy to himself. It was these strange happenings that caused them to return him.

"There is definitely something very _wrong_ about that child. He is a cute kid but… have you considered a mental institution?" Mr. Tyler had said.

"With all due respect sir, Harry does not belong in a mental institution. He was beaten for being alive when he was a very small child. Everyday he was told that he didn't deserve to be loved and that he was worthless. I'm sorry he gave you a hard time, but I've known him for four years now, he has never shown signs that he belongs in a mental institution," Ms. Jen had said angrily.

After he had left, she looked at Harry. "I guess Sam is right, the orphanage _is_ where you belong."

His first night back, he had the nightmare about a flash of green light that he'd always had, but now cruel laughter. He'd talked to Mrs. Dunlop about it. She told him it all went back to his abuse and had nothing to do with how his parents had died. Harry didn't believe her because followed by the green light was a terrible pain on his forehead. This was the pain that always sent him thrashing in his sleep.

"Did your uncle ever laugh at you because you parents died?" Sam asked.

Harry nodded, "All the time. He told me they were worthless but that they didn't love me and was glad they weren't with me anymore. He always said I should have gone with them. He always laughed and said I didn't deserve parents anyway. I knew he was lying only because my aunt told me the truth. My mother was her sister."

Sam swore. "What was wrong with that man? My parents did what they did because they were alcoholics. Your uncle never was though… was he?"

Harry knew what an alcoholic was now, he'd learned from seeing the older children experiment with alcohol. He knew that a person could act differently when they were drunk. His uncle did laugh at him an awful lot, it did seem fitting that his laughter would be part of the dream. Perhaps it was because of the Tyler's rejection that caused it now. They hadn't been as nice Mr. Rennings when he'd brought Harry back to the orphanage. Mr. Rennings had even hugged Harry and told him good luck. The Tyler's had practically run from the building.

"No, he was never drunk. He just hated me for being alive," Harry answered.

"But why? You said he loved his son," Sam said; he walked back over to his bed.

"Sam, why do you have to work? It's boring here after school without you," Harry said.

"Have to save money for when I leave here. I'll have to leave when I'm eighteen you know," Sam answered. "But Harry, I was thinking… maybe if I have a lot of money you could come with me. I'll be eighteen, I'll be an adult. I'll have to work a lot, but it might work out."

Harry liked this idea a lot, "I could work too! You got a job when you were twelve and I'll be twelve then."

"Cool," Sam said, and then was quiet.

Harry stared at the ceiling. He thought about Sam's question. _But why? You said he loved his son. _He was sure it had to with the strange things he could do, but he also believed it had to with his parents. He had to wonder if they had gotten along. He knew his aunt didn't like talking about his mother.

All he knew was that he'd never forget his last day living with them. He'd had a lot of fun at school that day and couldn't wait until the next day. The whole day was going to be devoted to Halloween activities while they wore their costumes. They were going to be given candies. The older students were going to do the activities with them as well. Harry had been assigned to group C. He knew they were going to listen to Halloween stories.

All that excitement was ruined when his uncle had come into the kitchen. He'd been daydreaming about school when his uncle had run in and attacked him. Although he was in a lot of pain later, all he could think about was going back to school where he'd be happy. The next moment he was lying on the stone steps of the orphanage with only a torn blanket to keep him warm. While he slept, he dreamed that it had all been a dream and he was really in his cupboard.

So when he woke the next morning with a stranger kneeling over him, he had been frightened and devastated. He'd wanted it to be a dream; he wanted to be at his home helping his aunt set the table for breakfast. Then he could go to school and pretend to be a wizard while doing Halloween activities. It wasn't a dream however, he knew even at that young age that he wasn't wanted and no longer had a home. It had been a horrible realization.

He remembered thinking about how his last moment with his uncle in Ms. Jen's office when she left him alone. He'd been scared of being in a new place and tried to hide in a corner. All he could think of was _why_? Why did his uncle have to leave him alone and not want him? Why was he so horrible that he had to be beaten all the time, and then forced to sleep outside where it was scary and cold?

Harry was glad now that his uncle had kicked him out. He couldn't have known that he had dropped him off at the best orphanage around. He had dropped him off as far from Little Whinging as he could. The other orphanages weren't as good as the McDenver one. He now had a best friend, and people loved him. The older kids adored him, while the younger ones looked up to him. Ms. Jen gave him a hug everyday. At school, he had a couple friends as well.

"Why am I so bad that people don't want me?" Harry said aloud.

"You aren't," Sam answered back.

"But my uncle abandoned me, and then the Rennings brought me back… and the Tyler's thought I belonged in a mental institution," Harry said. "Why don't people want me?"

"They don't understand you or the strange things you do. Only I do and Ms. Jen too."

"What do you mean the strange things I do?" Harry asked sitting up.

"I dunno what it is, but I've seen you do things when you are angry. Sometimes when you are sad too. I don't know how to explain it though. But you and I went through the same experience. No one else but me or the others here that went through it will know. Anyway, night Harry."

---

The small boy sat in raggy clothes; he was covered in a lot of dirt. His hair was so matted and dirty that it was hard to know what colour it really was. He was also covered in a lot of blood. Harry sat in a chair across from him, Ms. Jen sat behind her desk nursing a finger, the small boy had bitten her.

"Where did you come from?" Harry asked him.

"Don't havta tell ya nuthin!" The boy answered. "Stop buggin me or I'll hurt you."

He had been found on the orphanage steps wailing. Ms. Jen had found him out there; he had been very violent when she brought him inside. A note had been left with him, he'd been clutching it his hands.

_It's your problem now. I can't deal with this thing anymore. I always regretted having a child and I never wanted it. I only kept it because my mother thought it was the right thing to do. She died two years ago so she doesn't have to know… its name is Rex and that's all you need to know. It's better off here without me. Sometimes I have violent attacks and it's not my fault if it got hurt in the middle of them. It deserved it half the time. _

_Don't try to find me._

Ms. Jen couldn't get him to talk, and Ms. Dunlop had the day off. Sam was at work, and the other child who had been abandoned wasn't there anymore, but adopted. That left Harry, she was sure he might be able to talk to the boy, help him realize that he wasn't the only one in this situation.

"Did someone hurt you? I was hurt a lot," Harry rolled up his sleeves of his sweater and pointed to the scars. "My uncle used to beat me a lot. He starved me a lot too. There was days when I went without food. The only time I was allowed to eat was lunch at school, but I was always too scared to. I got spanked every single day, sometimes more then that. See this? Well, I accidentally dropped a plate on the floor when I was setting the table, so my uncle pressed my arm against the burners on the stove."

"My mummy didn't love me. I was a mistake," the boy murmured. "I lived outside but there was four bedrooms inside with warm beds. I always wished I could sleep inside in a warm bed again."

"Outside?" Harry asked other then the night he was abandoned he'd always slept in his cupboard. "But what about the winter?"

"I slept on the kitchen floor. I used to have a bed long ago. Then grammy died and mummy made me sleep outside unless it was cold out. She was always angry and drinking smelly stuff."

"And your mummy dropped you off last night?" Harry asked.

"I was sleeping in the mud and someone wanted to know why. Mummy said mind your own business to her then brought me here. She told me never to come home. She don't want me no more. She said I'm not good enough for her," he answered.

He started to cry. Harry looked at Ms. Jen; she walked over to the boy and kneeled in front of him. She asked him more questions, which he answered now. The anger he'd had moments ago was gone now. He let her hug her while he sobbed. Harry shook his head, he now understood how the other children had felt when he'd first come. They had been angry with his aunt and uncle.

"How old are you?" Harry asked him.

"Five-years-old. My birthday was last week. Mummy told me it was five-years of misery."

"Listen, Rex. I want to get you cleaned up, then I am going to take you to the hospital and have you checked over. Is that okay?"

Rex nodded, she looked relieved. Harry wondered why he had bit in her in the first place, but was glad he had calmed down now. She told Harry he could go play. She picked up Rex and carried him from the office.

Harry left thinking about the children who had come. Most of them were there because their parents had died and they had no one else to take care of them. A little girl who was only a year-old had come a couple weeks ago. Her parents had died in a car crash too. Harry thought she was luckier, at least she didn't have to spend three years being beaten, told she should be beaten for being alive, and then abandoned. She'd probably be adopted right away and she wouldn't have the emotional baggage he had.

---

Rex seemed to adjust to the orphanage quickly. His hair, once it had been clean was long and blond. A lot of the older girls thought he was adorable and loved to play with him. His aggression had left when he realized that there were people who cared about him. He had to wear a cast on his arm because it had been broken.

Sam and Harry talked to him often, but he didn't like to talk about his life with his mother. When he did talk about it, they learned that his mother had only been fifteen when she got pregnant with him. This had shocked Sam who would be turning fifteen in a few months.

"I can't imagine being a dad right now. It happens a lot though. Some of the girls at the orphanage have gotten pregnant you know," He told Harry.

"But you still want to be my dad, right?" Harry asked.

"I won't be your dad; I'll be your guardian. Some of the kids say I might have trouble adopting you though Harry. I hope I don't. If I can't, I'll make sure to see you as much as I can."

"Promise?" Harry asked. "It won't be the same here without you."

Rex seemed to be a little troublemaker at times. He liked to steal the other orphans possessions. Sam caught him in his and Harry's room, rummaging through their closets. He picked him up and hung him upside down by his ankle and told him he'd better return everything. He'd found Harry's old Match cards.

"He can have those," Harry told Sam. "I never play that baby game anymore anyway."

"You have to learn you can't steal from people," Sam told Rex who set him upright again.

"Mummy stole all the time. She stole VCR's and money! She got me whatever movie I wanted when she wasn't drinking smelly stuff and being a monster. Stealing is okay when you need stuff," he told Sam. "I needed these cards."

"You have to ask Rex. Stealing is not okay, your mummy was wrong," Sam answered.

"No she wasn't. She was never wrong!" Rex yelled.

"So she wasn't wrong to beat you and make you sleep in the mud?" Sam asked in a harsh voice.

Rex looked down at feet and began to cry. He threw Harry's Match cards at him, and then ran from the room. Harry chastised Sam for being mean to him, but Sam stood by what he said. This caused an argument between the two boys. It was the first time they had really gotten into a fight. Sam believed that Rex should learn now, while Harry believed that he shouldn't be so harsh with him.

The boys didn't speak for days, which was hard for Harry. Sam spent his time with the older children while Harry was forced to hang around the children his own age. They were alright, but most of them were a lot younger then him. The rest were girls, and Harry didn't like to play with the girls much. He didn't like to play dress up.

It wasn't until Harry had a nightmare again that they reconciled. It was the same dream Harry always had with the green light. Only the laughter belonged to Sam. Harry lay on the stone steps right after his uncle dropped him off, cold, beaten and depressed. Sam came out of the blackness and stared down at him. He started to laugh, the cruel laughter.

"You need to learn your lesson Harry! You deserve to be beaten. You'll never be loved. I don't want you either, I'll never adopt you," he told him.

He picked Rex up and held him close. "I'm taking Rex instead. You can sleep in the mud and I don't want you as my roommate either."

He and Rex started to laugh. Harry started to scream, his uncle came out of the blackness as well. Sam didn't move to protect him, he didn't stop his uncle from beating him…

"Harry!"

Harry woke up to find Sam staring at him; his face was full of concern. Harry didn't even realize he was crying until Sam hugged him.

"Nightmare again?"

It took Harry a few moments to calm down and realize he wasn't in the dream anymore. He told Sam everything; he hoped the older boy wouldn't laugh. On the contrary, he hugged Harry tighter promising that he didn't hate him.

"Harry, I don't think any of that, do you believe me? I'm sorry, you're right. Maybe I was a little harsh with Rex. He shouldn't have been stealing from all of us though. We have a hard time getting toys as it is. I promise you that _you're_ my best friend. You'll always be my best friend. No one understands me the way you do and no one understands you better then me."

* * *

A/n: Next chapter will be with Harry learning that he actually is a wizard. This story is going to be a lot more different then most of the Harry Potter rewrites. You'll see what I mean during Harry's first year. It will be a Snape mentoring Harry kind of fic, but that won't be the only different part.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam walked down the aisles looking for a bag of sweets. Harry's eleventh birthday was coming up. It was hard for him to believe that he was growing up; he'd met Harry when he was just four-years-old. He remembered very well the first day he set eyes on the tiny scrawny boy.

_His roommate of three years had just been adopted. Sam was looking forward to having the room to himself. He knew soon there would be a new boy living with him, but he would savor the few days that he had by himself. Of course there was a chance Evan would be returned, sometimes the parents gave up on them. The people who had adopted Sam had given up on him._

_He was lost in thought when Ms. Jen carried in a tiny boy who was sobbing. She set him on Evan's old bed gently. Quickly, he climbed off the bed and sat on the floor instead. He was wearing a witch's hat, and had a cape tied around his neck._

"_Harry, sit on the bed," Ms. Jen said._

_She picked him back up and put him on the bed. "No! No! I'm not allowed on a bed," he yelled._

"_Well, you are here. Please sit on the bed and meet your new roommate," she said._

"_You're rooming me with a two-year-old?" Sam asked in disbelief._

_He liked the younger children but he didn't want to share a room with a baby. He wanted to be around someone his own age. Normally Ms. Jen put people who were close in age together._

"_He's actually four, believe it or not," Ms. Jen answered. "He's really tiny though. I didn't think he was that old, but he told me that he turned four in July. I wanted him with you, because he came from a similar situation as you did."_

"_What do you mean?" Sam asked._

_He got up from his bed and looked down at the small boy who was crying so hard that he was gasping. He had a cast on his nose, and his fingers. His cheeks were hallowed out, and he had dark circles around his eyes. _

"_His parents beat him and then left him here over night," Ms. Jen answered._

_Sam nodded; yes he had certainly been in that situation. His parents had smacked and pushed him around before they drove him to the orphanage. His wrist had been broken and his face hurt after falling down the porch steps. After they dropped him off, his mother hugged him._

"_I'm sorry to do this to you, Sammy. We need help, if you stay with us, I'm scared of what will happen," she whispered while his father honked the horn. "Good-bye baby, be good. You won't see us again, but it really is for the best."_

_He hated his parents for that. Now, looking at Harry, he could see that he hadn't had it as bad with them. He had never been starved, and they had only hit him when they were drunk. This little boy was covered in bruises and scratches, he looked malnourished. Sam felt pity for him._

"_He isn't taking abandonment too well. He keeps asking me why, and I wish I knew. Listen, I have to fill out some forms. One of the attendants will be in to see him in a bit. Keep an eye on him please."_

_Sam nodded. He waited until she left and then tried to get Harry to talk. Harry was terrified. He fell off the bed and smacked his head on the floor. He howled even louder at that point. Sam grabbed him before he could crawl under the bed and lifted him back up on the bed._

"_That must have hurt a lot. I've fallen off the bed too," Sam said._

"_I wanna go home," Harry answered._

"_No you don't. Your parents hurt you a lot, Harry. You'll never get hit here. I used to be hit too, but not anymore. I like living here. I think you will too, as long as you don't off the bed again."_

_Sam proceeded to tickle Harry. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but it seemed to work. Harry started to laugh. _

Sam was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice. It couldn't be though, he was in prison. Sure enough, Vernon Dursley came around the aisle, talking to a really large woman. She looked familiar as well, but Sam wasn't sure where he had seen her from. Vernon had lost weight.

"You!" Sam said.

Vernon and the woman stopped what they were doing to look at him. The woman glared and said: "Scat!"

"Why aren't you in jail?" Sam demanded.

"Got released a month ago," Vernon answered, he was scowling at Sam. "Wait, I know you. You're that kid who was whispering in the boy's ear. You told him what to say."

"No I didn't. Why would you abandon him? He was just a baby! And with only a blanket even! If you didn't want him, why didn't you just bring him into the orphanage? There was no need to drop him off in the middle of the night. He was terrified all night long," Sam said angrily.

"Why don't you get lost?" The woman demanded. "That child deserved what he got."

"I'd planned to drop him off at the orphanage all along. I was going to do it anyway, but then his teacher started to interfere. And I'll have you know that I did some research before I did. I wasn't going to drop him off at any place. I know what goes on at some of these places. I wanted to make sure that he ended up at a good place. I heard the McDenver orphanage had a good reputation, so I took him there," Vernon said after he waved the woman off.

"You didn't need to drop him off in the middle of the night, with only a blanket. Why didn't you let him keep his pajamas?" Sam said; he was surprised that the man had given thought to which orphanage he'd drop Harry off at.

"I regretted it. I was angry with him, I hated him and I didn't want that child in my home anymore, but I regretted it the next day. I wished that I had waited because that orphanage isn't exactly on a good street, even if it has a good reputation. I kept thinking about what could have happened if someone besides the owners had found him laying there. I know I should have left him in his pajamas but I wasn't thinking that night," Vernon answered.

Sam stared at him; he looked as if he was telling the truth. Sam had learned early on how to tell if a person was lying. It was how he knew when little Rex lied about stealing something. Vernon Dursley was telling the truth. He kept eye contact with Sam while he spoke.

"Oh, I don't know why you feel so guilty, Vernon. It was years ago. If some sicko had found him and done something to him, would it really have been a bad thing? That child deserved and still deserves any bad thing coming to him. He was a rude, ungrateful brat who shouldn't have been born," the woman answered angrily.

Vernon however shook his head and spoke before Sam could yell at her. "He wasn't ungrateful. He could have told his teacher anytime what I was doing to him. He did all his chores, even if he wasn't asked. That's a lot of ask from a four-year-old Marge."

The woman just rolled her eyes. She grabbed Vernon's arms and pushed him forward to continue. Vernon let her, but he looked over his shoulder at Sam.

"Tell him I'm sorry. I've lost my only son because of it… and well I had a lot to think about in prison," he called.

Sam just stared after him, this was definitely strange. He listened to the woman scolding Vernon for having any regrets. He was glad that the man did, Harry had taken forever to get over his abandonment. He'd cry himself to sleep for months. He asked everybody every day why he had been abandoned.

Sam remembered the things Harry had said to him over time.

_I didn't like being hit, but I had a home. I knew that night I didn't have a home no more and that nobody wanted me. Why Sam? Why am I so bad that he got rid of me? I wanna go home. I don't wanna be abanoned no more. I just want someone to love me. I'm not so bad am I? Why don't I have a home no more? I was scared and it was all dark and I knew I wasn't going home no more. I was going to be a wizard at school! I was asleep in my cupboard and then he pulled me out and told me he was getting rid of me! He left me all cold and I only had a blankey! I always helped make breakfast. I liked helping but I don't do that no more. I am abanoned now. I wanna see my family again. I like the orphan but I don't wanna be abanoned no more. Why, Sam why?_

_

* * *

  
_

Harry was on his bed reading a book by Gordon Korman. He enjoyed reading when he was by himself. He'd finally managed to get Rex to play with some of the babies for a bit. He heard a knock and looked up. A man with black hair and dark eyes entered the room.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," he said.

"Oh, hi," Harry answered.

This was new for him. Normally when someone wanted to adopt him, he went to the office. No one but the attendants or Ms. Jen really came into the room. This man wasn't an attendant; he wasn't wearing the standard white uniform. This man was wearing black pants and a torn sweater. The man walked further into the room and looked around.

"We had a hard time finding you," the man said. "This is definitely a surprise. I never thought _you_ would end up here."

Harry sat up and stared at him. He had no idea what the man was talking about, why had they been looking for them? Why were they surprised that he was at the orphanage?

"Ms. Jen didn't tell you?" he asked.

"She told me where to find you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Severus Snape," the man said, his eyes narrowed.

"Pleased to meet you sir, so are you here to adopt me?"

"No," Severus said coldly. "I didn't even want this job, but everyone was busy. It would have been easier if you were still with your aunt and uncle, the place where the Headmaster dropped you off."

"That's not my fault," Harry informed him with a frown. "My uncle dropped me off here when I was four. I haven't heard from my aunt or uncle in years. Why are you here, sir?"

"You are invited to study at the school I come from. I suppose you don't know anything about your parents, do you?"

Harry shook his head and Severus let out a sigh as if he were annoyed. He turned on his heel, and headed for the door. Harry thought to himself, _good riddance_, but he just shut the door and then turned back to Harry. He pulled out a stick from his pants pocket and waved it. Harry's mouth dropped when a chair appeared out of this air. Severus sat down on the chair.

"Shut your mouth, it's not becoming. Now you are a wizard-" Severus began.

"A wizard? No I'm not. I mean, when I was a little boy I used to wish I was," Harry interrupted.

"Do not interrupt me, Mr. Potter. As I was saying, you are a wizard. Your mum and dad were as well. What were you told about your parents deaths?"

"My aunt told me they died in a car crash. It's how I got this scar on my forehead," Harry answered and lifted his fringe to show him. "Sometimes I have dreams about the accident though. There is a flash of green light and then my head hurts."

Severus proceeded on to explain that Harry's parents weren't really killed in a car accident but killed by a dark lord. The scar on his forehead was from the same curse used on them, only it didn't kill Harry. Instead, it rebounded back on the dark lord and he disappeared. It all sounded like a really good fiction story.

"Sir, wizards cannot exist. It's impossible," Harry said.

"How did I just conjure this chair Potter? Do you need further proof?"

He pointed his wand at the book on Harry's bed. Right before Harry's eyes, it was levitated to the ceiling. It fell down a few moments later. Harry stared at the book, then back at the chair. It couldn't be real… but then he remembered the strange things he did. He remembered when he lived at the Tyler's and had levitated the bookshelves.

"How do I do magic without a wand?" Harry asked.

"You are an underage wizard. At times you cannot control your magic when you are angry, sad or scared," he explained. "Has this happened?"

Harry nodded and explained what he had done at the Tylers and a few of the things he'd managed to do at the orphanage.

"This magic was how we eventually managed to find you," Severus answered. "You are invited to study how to control your magic at the school I come from."

He reached into his pocket again, and pulled out an envelope.

_Harry James Potter_

_McDenver Orphanage_

"So, my parents really were murdered?" Harry asked in a small voice.

Severus nodded. "Yes, and you are famous in the wizarding world. People feared the Dark Lord, so when he disappeared, people rejoiced. Several people will probably want to meet you," he said in a disgusted voice.

"But I don't want to be famous for that. I'd rather have my parents. I don't want people to meet me because someone wanted to kill me but couldn't," Harry protested.

Severus looked shocked by this. He told Harry to open the envelope, so he did. He pulled out two pieces of parchment. The first one told him that he had a place at a school called: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The second piece of paper was a list of school supplies.

"Where can I go to get a wand or a cauldron?" Harry asked. "This isn't a joke, right?"

"Haven't I just proved it isn't, Potter?" Severus asked annoyed.

"Does Ms. Jen know about this?"

"I told her you were invited to a school that your parents went to study. She doesn't know what kind of school it is. Hogwarts is hidden from Muggles," he said.

"Muggles?" Harry asked.

"Non magic folk. Everyone that lives here, except you, are Muggles. I can take you to the place to get your supplies for school. However, you must keep them hidden. If you would like, I can send your things ahead to Hogwarts so no one is suspicious. I see you live with a roommate."

Harry nodded. "Sam, I think he's at work right now. So I can't even tell him? He's my best friend. He and Rex are the only ones here who understand what I went through."

"No, you can't tell anyone. You lived with Petunia at one point?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded again. "You knew her?"

"I knew her through your mother. I went to school with your parents. Your aunt wasn't magical, but your mother, Lily was."

Harry didn't want to admit that he was grateful to meet someone who knew his parents. His aunt didn't count since she hadn't wanted him. She had never beaten him, but she had made it perfectly clear that she hated him. There were only a few times when she spoke to him nicely, but then as if realizing she was being too nice, she'd start to ignore him again.

"So are you a teacher or something at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"I teach Potion's. Usually it's the Headmaster or the Deputy Headmistresses job to inform Muggleborn students about Hogwarts, but they were both busy. The Headmaster feels you are a special case at any rate," Severus answered, he said 'special' as if it were a filthy case.

"Well, I'm not special. I don't even remember my parents or the Dark Lord," Harry answered. "What was his name anyway? Or do you know?"

Severus hesitated, "It's Lord Voldemort, but no one says the name. They call him You-Know-Who."

"Well, why couldn't he kill me? I mean, I couldn't stop my uncle from hurting me," Harry said. "Did Ms. Jen tell you about what happened to me when I was little?"

"She told me you had been abused and abandoned. Did your uncle hit you if you did magic?"

"Sometimes. Other times he just did it because he hated me. He spanked me every day, even when I was a good boy. When I started school, he did it before and after school for a while. Then my aunt told him to stop because the teacher asked questions. So he just did it on weekends instead. The one night he was angry with me because the teacher wanted to put me in counseling, so he abandoned me. I had to sleep all night outside by myself, and I was only four! You can't even imagine how scary it is for a four-year-old to sleep outside on a strange street, where there were horrible noises."

Harry thought he saw pity in Severus' eyes, but it was gone moments later. He just nodded and seemed deep in thought. "I think your magic _was_ protecting you, Potter. You knew what would happen to you if you did magic, so you didn't if you could help it. I'm sure it would have been far worse if you had used magic to protect yourself."

Harry nodded, he could believe that. His uncle had hated him as it was, if he did accidental magic, it was worse. He shuddered when he thought about what would have happened if he had done it to protect himself. Severus seemed to catch this, but didn't say a word. He stood up, and with a wave of his wand, the chair disappeared. He turned back to Harry.

"Well, let's get going to get your school supplies then. I told your guardian I was taking you. I want to do this quickly; I have better things to do then to lead an adolescent around."

Harry smiled, he liked this man. He wasn't a person who took orders from anyone, he followed his own rules. At least he seemed to be that way to Harry. At any rate, he had known Harry's parents, which gave him several points.

* * *

A/N: Yes, Vernon did regret leaving Harry out there. Not because he was afraid of going to jail (which he was) but because he realized just how wrong it was the next day. Of course in jail he had time to think about all of his actions against Harry, the fact that he lost his wife and son… and realized that it wasn't Harry's fault. I wanted to redeem Vernon. He rarely gets that in these kinds of fics, and I think even Vernon would feel bad after a while. Harry was nearly an adult in OOTP so, even though he was still a child, I don't think Vernon felt too bad, that and he was scared. His son had just come home after being attacked from something in Harry's world.

In this case, Harry was just an innocent four year old, and a person would have to be really messed up if they didn't feel guilty for putting Harry through what he was put through in this story. A change from most of the fanfictions on here about abuse, but this one _is_ going to be different anyway. Chapters likely will be longer when Harry is in school.

There are attendants who work there, along with Ms. Jen and Ms. Dunlop. Next chapter will be a bit about Harry's wand, some stuff about Sam, and then Harry will be going to Hogwarts.


End file.
